Former GOP leader wants new speaker

More Texas Republicans are jumping into the fray surrounding House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, and the efforts to preserve his leadership – or to take him out.

Former state Republican Chairman George Strake, Jr. of Houston has added his name to the list calling for a more conservative House speaker. Strake is also a former Texas secretary of state.

A letter, calling for a conservative Texas Speaker of the House now has the support of 115 “movement signers” — that’s 27 “organization” representatives, 33 Republican leaders, and 52 tea party organizers/leaders.
Also, nearly 1,900 people have signed the letter at http://www.ConservativeSpeakerMandate.com

Over the weekend, other Texas GOP conservatives declared their support for Straus.

Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio

Their letter:

Dear Fellow Conservative,

In recent days we have read with dismay critical comments of the Republican leadership of the Texas House – in particular Speaker Joe Straus finding those criticisms to be based on half-truths, hearsay and, in some cases, outright fabrications. These criticisms concern us not just because they unfairly reflect on the leadership of the House, but on all Republicans who compose the majority, and will be running on our record from last session.

As fellow movement conservatives, we have the same desire as many of you: to advance the conservative agenda in Austin, and our shared values. We believe in the sanctity of life, the power of private individuals to create opportunity rather than government, personal responsibility rather than increased dependency, and constitutional limits to the size and scope of government. We are here to tell you, in all these matters, we have an ally in Speaker Joe Straus.

Let’s set aside recent rhetoric, and just look at the record. In his first term as Speaker the Texas House – with just a two-vote majority – we achieved the following:

* Passed a balanced budget with a $1.6 billion reduction in general revenue spending – just the 2nd time we have reduced spending from general revenue since World War II.

* Enacted tax cuts for 40,000 small businesses previously subject to the business margins tax.

* Set aside $9.1 billion in the state’s Rainy Day Fund, ensuring we could address future budgetary challenges without raising taxes.

Since the session ended, Speaker Straus has joined Governor Perry and Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst in mandating immediate five percent spending cuts at all but a few state agencies. And Speaker Straus has directed members of key committees to look at all ways to find savings and cuts in state spending, taking tax hikes off the table as an option in the next session.
What more could we ask of the leader of the House than that kind of strong, principle-based fiscal conservatism? We have in Joe Straus a strong, principled fiscal conservative. That’s why, last session, our fellow Republican Caucus members voted unanimously for the fiscally responsible state budget passed in the Texas House led by Speaker Straus.

Even before he was speaker, as a second-term representative Joe Straus authored legislation that ended the TIF Tax – the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fee that had outlived its purpose, but was continued under previous Republican leadership as a means to balance the budget. This stands out as one of the largest fee elimination bills in Texas history. Who led the way?

Representative Joe Straus. Not only that, Joe Straus passed the most significant energy conservation legislation of the 2007 session in order to control utility rates, and he stood with the victims of violence all across Texas in putting on the ballot a measure to provide stronger constitutional protections for the victims of domestic violence. Voters approved in overwhelming numbers.

My friends, that’s the record of a true conservative – someone who has fought to save you money and control the size of government, and someone who has fought to protect the vulnerable in our society.

Now, in the name of self-interest, a few individuals are trying to disparage that record. Recently a political opponent claimed, without any basis in fact, that somehow Speaker Straus “cut a deal” with Democrats on Voter ID to prevent it from coming up for a vote. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Not only has Speaker Straus been a strong supporter of Voter ID – voting for it in 2007 – he ensured it priority placement at the top of the House’s Major State Calendar to get it to a floor vote. Democrats then used a tactic known as “chubbing” to kill Voter ID, and in the process killed a lot of other legislation, which earned them a black eye with the public because of their obstructionist tactics.

And that brings us to another point. While our Republican Majority shrunk in the previous three elections, under Speaker Straus’ leadership, we made substantial gains in the November 2 election to an unprecedented 99 seats in the Texas House. Joe Straus gave unprecedented early sums of money to Republican incumbents, and Republican candidates in open seats, as well as to the Republican Party and Party organizations working to get out the vote, making the gains Tuesday possible.

We write to you as members of the conservative movement — who believe that we must control the size and mission of government. We simply couldn’t let the assaults on our Republican speaker go on unchallenged. As someone who worked for Senator Tower, in the Reagan and Bush Administrations, and as Lamar Smith’s campaign manager during his initial victorious run, Joe Straus is a dedicated and proven conservative. We may not agree with him on every issue, but we know he shares our commitment to fiscally conservative principles, and he manages the House in an even-handed manner, which means the Democrats are forced to fight us on the issues – which spells trouble for them in a conservative state.
If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail us back. We think it is important that you have all the facts. In the Internet age, a lie can travel half-way around the world before the truth ever gets out. You need to know the truth, and not merely what certain opponents of the Speaker want you to believe. In fact, you deserve nothing but the truth – the whole truth.